Black Sheep
by justasimplegirl125
Summary: (Miracle) Rizzo's sister moves to Minnesota and pulls out all the stops to resist a certain charasmatic hockey player.
1. Default Chapter

Late August, 1979

Winthrop, Mass

Third Person POV

Throwing yet another worn though youth-hockey t-shirt into a box, Isabella Eruzione sighed dramatically and plopped down on her bed. Her friend Jaime rolled her eyes, but Izzy was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.

As she reached her arm out to her left, her fingers grasped a photo that she knew all too well. Three smiling faces looked out at her. She reflected their expressions as her eyes scanned the picture. Her brother Mike's sitting on the right, brown eyes gleaming with shameless joy. Izzy herself was sandwiched in the middle, with big green eyes and dark curly hair framing her laughing face. And there he is, on her left, his usual cocky grin replaced by a genuine look of happiness. It was taken last New Year's Eve, when everything was perfect. Izzy was reminded once again how much life can change in less than nine months.

"Well isn't this just my luck. I transfer from BU to the U of M so that I can get away from Jack and now he's going to be there. What did I do to deserve this?"

This comment earned another eye roll from Jaime.

"Well, obviously I mean besides having a two year relationship with one of my brother's best friends, falling in love and sleeping with the aforementioned friend and going against all of my family's wishes in order to get away from the friend, and of course keeping this all a secret from my brother."

"Obviously," Jamie replied dryly, "Let's cut the crap here Izzy, you have two options: change your plans yet again to avoid Jack like you originally planned, or you can put on the big girl pants and go face your 'lover' like you should."

"Ouch Jamie, your words cut me real deep." Said Izzy sarcastically, "But really, what am I supposed to do? Every time I see him I want to go back on everything we said this summer."

"Well, I still don't understand why that would be such a bad thing. You never gave me the dish on the big split."

"Let's just say that no matter how much we want to, there's no going back now."

"OK, now you officially have to tell me. It's the Best Friends Code."

"Best Friends Code, what the heck is that?"

'C'mon Izzy, you know about the BFC."

From the blank stare on Izzy's face she obviously had no idea what Jamie was blabbering on about.

"You poor deprived child," Jamie shook her head with overemphasized sadness, "The code is a list of rules that best friends have to follow and as your best friend I am obligated to pry every-"

"If I tell you why we broke up will you stop blabbering on about the damn BFC?"

"Of course I will! Now spill the beans."

"The night of his graduation, Jack proposed to me."

"Isabella Margaret Eruzione stop lying and tell me the truth right now."

"I'm serious, he asked me to marry him and I said no."

"No? You said no? Why in the name of all that is holy did you say no?"

"Because as far as my family is concerned there is not nor has there ever been a relationship between Jack O'Callahan and me. What was I supposed to say to them Jamie, 'Hey Ma, remember Jack? Well funny story, we started dating 2 years ago and now we're gonna get married! Tell Mikey to throw in a couple more meatballs!' I don't think they would have been too happy about that."

"Ok, ok, marriage might not have been the next logical choice, but why'd it have to end completely, you could have gone back to how it was."

"Yeah, but when I said no, he asked me why, and I told him what I told you, and for some reason it offended him and we got in this huge fight and all this stuff that we'd been holding in just came pouring out. It was totally awful." Tears were now spilling out of Izzy's emerald eyes, "The next time I saw him, he would barely speak to me, and when we were finally alone, he broke it off. I've seen him maybe twice since then."

Jamie reached over and scooped her friend op into a hug.

"Iz, you're going to be alright. You're only 20 years old, and I'm sure that there will be some fine Nordic prince waiting for you out in Minnesota."

The brunette laughed through her tears, and brought a delicate hand up to wipe the drops away.

"We should probably finish packing," she said, lifting the abandoned photo and placing it gently in a nearby box, "but, if you find them, leave those big girl pants out for me. I'll be needing them."


	2. Won the battle, but will she win the war...

_Hey guys! Thanks to all of my reviewers. This is my first story ever and it means a lot to me that you like it. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Miracle or its characters. Izzy and anyone that you don't recognize are mine._

**Chapter 2: Won the battle, but will she lose the war?**

August 1979

Minneapolis, MN

_Jack O'Callahan raced down the path and turned a corner. Spinning around, his eyes landed on the object of his search._

"_Isabella," he called._

_The tall brunette turned and smiled at her secret boyfriend. Placing a finger to her lips, she beckoned him forward. Jack resisted the temptation to sprint towards her, instead strolling casually in her direction. She saw through his act and rolled her eyes. When he finally reached her, their formal behavior halted and with and quick glance around to make sure that they were alone, they met each other's lips in a short but passionate kiss._

_Their mouths parted but they stayed close. Jack kissed Izzy's temple and leaned down to her ear._

"_Marry me" he whispered softly._

_Izzy backed away with a startled look on her face. She starred at him for a moment and then broke into laughter. Seeing the hurt look on his face she stopped._

"_Oh Jack, I'm sorry. I though that you were kidding. I mean, you weren't really expecting me to say yes were you?"_

"_Well, yeah! Of course I was. We've-"_

_That was all he managed to get out before she collapsed to the ground in a fit of giggles. At that moment Rizzo walked in._

"_Izzy, are you ok?" Rizzo asked with concern._

"_Jack… just… me…marry…him!" that was all Izzy managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter._

_Rizzo also began to laugh, and the rest of their families began to trickle into the courtyard. All of them were pointing and laughing._

"_You actually thought she'd say yes?" sneered his father._

"_What a joke!" said Izzy's mom._

"_Stop laughing! I thought she'd say yes…I thought she'd say yes…I thought she'd say yes1Leave me alone! Izzy marry me please!"_

Back in his dorm, Jack woke with gasp. He brought a hand up to his forehead and wiped it off. As he did so, he realized that he was drenched in beads of cold sweat.

Nearly every night since their breakup, he'd been having that dream, or some variation of it. Surprisingly enough, the real thing was much worse. She hadn't laughed, and their families didn't show up. But they'd had an enormous fight ending in Jack calling off their entire relationship. And since then, the two had barely spoken.

He glanced over towards Rizzo, his roommate and one of the primary reasons that Izzy wasn't in his arms at that very second. Not that he would ever know that. A picture on Rizzo's nightstand caught his eye, and he reached over to pick it up. Smiling, he recognized the photo. It was from New Year's Eve last year. He knew that the same picture sat in Izzy's room, and used to be in his also, before he threw at his wall in a fit of anger. The three of them looked so happy in that picture that it was hard to believe that two of them weren't even on speaking terms now. He gently replaced the picture, and for a moment Rizzo stirred. Jack grimaced then relaxed as he gave a great snort and settled back in.

For three months, Izzy and Jack had been avoiding each other and considering that there had been several hundred miles between them for most of that time, it hadn't been a problem. Unfortunately, tomorrow, she'd be arriving here in Minnesota to go to college at the U of M.

"Figures," Jack thought "Izzy never could stand to blend in that family."

He'd been a jerk and boy, did he know it. Looking at Mike again, he decided that it would be best for all of them if he and Izzy put their relationship behind them. Maybe they'd be able to go back to being friends.

Nodding to himself, he laid back down.

Yeah, and maybe he'd be able to restrain himself from bashing MacClanahan's face in.

The next morning Jack woke up late, again. By the time he had lumbered out of bed, most of his teammates had showered and were dressed. Mustering all of the speed he could at 6:30 in the morning, he rushed into the bathroom to clean himself up a bit.

"Hey OC," called Rizzo, "Got any plans for after practice."

"Rizzo, I just woke up, I don't have any plans for how I'm gonna get to practice!"

"Well then, how'd you like to come with me and Silky to the airport to get my sister?"

Jack stopped brushing his teeth momentarily to think about Rizzo's offer. Spitting the foam into the sink, he turned to face his friend.

"Sure Rizz, it'd be great to see the little monster."

Hours later, Mike, Jack, and their teammate, Dave Silk stood at the gate waiting for Isabella to step off of the plane.

"Rizzo, do you really think the sign was necessary?" asked Silk

Rizzo looked down at the sign in his hands.

It read: Welcome to the Midwest Izzy Boo Boo Monkey

"What's wrong with the sign?" said Rizzo in a hurt voice.

"I don't know don't you think it's little embarrassing?

"For me or for Izzy Boo Boo Monkey?"

"For me. How am I ever going to meet a hot stewardess with you sitting next to me holding a pink sign with your sister's nickname from when she was two written on it?"

"Shut up Silky" said Rizzo defensively.

"C'mon OC, you agree with me don't you?"

"Shut up Silky" said Jack with a bit of an edge in his voice.

"Thanks Buddy! Told ya my sign wasn't embarrassing" said Rizzo

"You too Rizz"

"But I" was all Silky managed to get out before Jack's icy glare made him shut his mouth.

"Aren't we a bit testy today?" teased Rizzo, which earned him his own death glare.

With that the three friends began their silent wait for Izzy's plane. Rizzo was playing with his sign, Silk was smiling and waving at every reasonably attractive female that walked by, and Jack sitting tensely, wondering why he even decided to some along.

Luckily, the plane finally arrived, barely 10 minutes after Jack's miniature outburst. Izzy was one of the first people off of the plane and upon seeing her brother and friends, her face broke into a huge smile and she ran towards them. When she reached them, she jumped into Rizzo's arms giving him a huge bear hug.

Once they had released, Rizzo lifted up his banner, proudly saying "Look, I made you a sign Izzy B-"

"That's great Mikey" she exclaimed, cutting him off before he could say her tremendously embarrassing childhood nickname.

"Hey Iz" Silky said as he extended his arms in an offering of a hug.

"Great to see ya Silky. How many hearts have you broken over here in Minnesota"

"Not too many, I've been waiting for my partner in crime."

They both smiled and laughed knowingly.

Izzy turned towards Jack, and grinned shyly.

"How are you Jack?"

"I'm decent, not too great, not too bad."

This answer earned a frown from Izzy, but she decided not to press him in front of Silky and her brother.

"We should probably get going. The rest of the boys are waiting for us at the bar" said Silk excitedly.

'Yeah, Izzy, you sit here and relax, I'll go get your bags, Silk you pull the car around, and Jack, stay here and keep Izzy company."

The two men left to do their jobs, leaving Jack and Izzy to stand there awkwardly.

"Do you wanna sit down?" questioned Jack.

"Sure, why not?" replied Izzy.

They sat stiffly on the bench for a few moments before Jack broke the silence.

"Iz," he said softly, "I want you to know that I'm sorry for the way I've been acting."

"Jack you don't" started Izzy, but Jack cut her off.

"No, I do. I was an idiot, and you were right, we were nowhere near ready for marriage. But I'm sorry for the way things turned out, and I want us to try to be friends again."

Izzy looked a little bit wary.

"Jack, we tried the friends thing and you have to admit, we abandoned that pretty quickly." They both smiled the memory of the first few months of their relationship.

"That is true. But we can't really avoid each other now that we're both living on campus and pure, unadulterated hatred is not an option, unless you want to answer a lot of questions about why we're so angry. We could try to go back to 'special friends' stage, but not even your brother is oblivious enough to not notice that when we're completely isolated out here in Minnesota. Therefore, our only alternative is an actual, honest-to-God, no funny business friendship."

"No funny business?"

"None, you have my word on it."

"Well, then I guess we could attempt the being friends thing again."

"Great" Jack said, extending his hand in order to seal the deal.

Izzy accepted his hand and tshook it firmly.

Moments later, Rizzo rushed in carrying an armful of luggage.

"Christ Izzy, did you take the house along in brick by brick? Jack, could you take one of these? The last thing I need is a messed up shoulder."

"Sure thing Rizzo" Jack replied cheerfully.

"Well, well, well, looks like you're warming up Minnesota already Sis!"

"Yeah, I better stay away from the rink."

Jack and Rizzo laughed at Izzy's corny joke, and together the three of them started off towards the exit.

That evening, followinga significant amount of unpacking and moving of furniture, the quartet arrived at the usual bar.

"As a reward for all of your hard work today, the first round's on me."

"Make it the first four and we'll be even," argued Silk, who was rubbing his lower back dramatically.

"How about the first two and a back rub for baby Davey later?" proposed Izzy laughing

"You gut yourself a deal, Hotshot!"

After buying their drinks, the group made their way back to join the rest of the team. A chorus of greetings shot up from the crowd as Rizzo introduced Izzy to his friends.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet my wonderful baby sister, Izzy Eruzione."

"Try saying that five times fast" joked Verchota.

Once all the proper introductions had been made, the boys dispersed throughout the bar, leaving Izzy alone with Jimmy, Buzz, and Robbie.

"So, tell me MacClanahan, how'd OC deal with having you on the team?"

"With his fists, mostly." Robbie answered playfully.

"You guys got into a fight?"

"Yup, first day of practice. But besides that we've managed just fine."

"I'm glad to hear it. So boys, anyone up for a good old game of pool?"

"Yeah right Isabella, I lost enough cash to you in college to last me a lifetime!" said Jimmy quickly.

"I'd love to, but with my skill level, and the way Jimmy introduced yours, I think that we can call this one right now. You win" declared Buzzy.

"Scaredy-cats! How about you Mac? Are you up to the challenge?"

"I'm always up for a challenge!"

"That's what I like to hear. So Robbie, you got any Nordic blood?"

_A/N: Well, there's Chapter 2! A whole lot longer, and hopefully not too bad. If you guys have any ideas just send them to me. I'd love a little input._

_Thanks again for the great reviews!_


	3. AN

A/N Hey guys thanks for your great reviews. I'm so sorry that Chapter 3 is taking so long, but I promise I'm working on it. School has been pretty crazy the last couple of weeks, so it's been hard to find time to write. I'll get it out ASAP!

Thanks for your patience!

Anne


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: OK, yeah…I know that I haven't updated in several months, but hopefully you guys are still interested._

_Thanks for being patient, and I hope you like Chapter 3._

_Disclaimer: The boys belong to themselves, the rest belongs to the studio, and anyone you don't know is mine._

**Chapter 3: Old Habits and New Love**

August, 1979

Minneapolis, MN

On her second day in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Izzy woke up with a splitting headache.

"_You'd think that in two years of college, I'd learn how low my alcohol tolerance is," _she thought remorsefully to herself as she reached for the Aspirin on her nightstand.

Hoisting herself out of bed, she stretched and yawned, slowly making her way over to her desk. She picked up her orientation folder and opened it, thumbing through its contents until she arrived at the object of her search. As she slid her orientation schedule out of its pocket, she was pleased to see that she'd be out of her last session in time to catch the end of hockey practice.

"_Perfect," _she thought, _"now what should I wear to catch Jack- I mean Mac's eye."_

After convincing herself that she really wanted to impress Robbie and not Jack, Izzy settled on a red t-shirt, and her favorite jeans. Throwing on her black jacket, she grabbed her keys and headed out of the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Izzy was completely, and hopelessly lost. She spun around, searching for someone who might know where she needed to be. A tall, handsome guy caught her eye, and she started towards him.

"Excuse me," she called, "Would you be able to tell me where Morrill Hall is?"

"Of course, keep going down University, take a left on Church and keep going until you reach a big old white building. You can't miss is, it's got pillars and everything."

"Thanks so much, you're a life saver. I'm already 5 minutes late for orientation."

"Oh, are you a freshman?"

"Nope, a transfer. I'm a sophomore from Boston University."

"Well, welcome to Minnesota, it's good to know that we've brought another one over from the dark side," he said with a smile, "I'm Tim Harrer."

"Izzy Eruzione, it's nice to meet you," she replied, "Thanks again for your help, but I really gotta get to orientation. Maybe I'll see you around sometime Tim."

"I certainly hope so!"

Hours later, Izzy entered one of her favorite places in the world, a hockey arena. Shivering slightly, she pulled her jacket a little closer to her body. She smiled as she looked down onto the practice. Watching hockey was one of her greatest loves. A loud shout pulled her out of her reverie.

"Miss, this is a private practice, you'll have to leave."

Her head snapped up, and she saw the coach staring at her from the ice, waiting for her to leave. The boys out on the ice stopped skating and looked up at who had interrupted their practice. A look of recognition passed over their faces and several smiled and waved.

"She's fine Herb," said Robbie, "That's Rizzo's sister."

Herb nodded reluctantly and turned back to his players.

Izzy made her way down the stairs and took her seat right behind the glass. She became entranced by their movements. Even the mundane things like the drills they repeated over and over again, thrilled her. Before she knew it, Craig's whistle was sounding shrilly through the arena. Her brother and his teammates were gliding off towards the locker rooms. Izzy stood up and remained in her spot for a moment, unsure of her new surroundings. Suddenly, someone called her name from the ice. Looking up, she saw Jack gesturing towards a hallway that apparently led to the locker rooms. She smiled and gave a thumbs up sign, which he reciprocated before turning and following his friends off of the ice. Izzy watched his back briefly before heading off in the direction he had pointed. A split-second later, Jack looked over his shoulder at her once more.

Their thoughts coincided as they walked their separate paths towards the locker rooms_ "Maybe being friends won't be such a bad thing."_

As Izzy waited in the hall outside of the locker room, she thought about the repercussions of liking Robbie with both Rizzo and Jack around. Her thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open and she was greeted by several freshly scrubbed hockey players.

"My beautiful Isabella! How lovely it is to be graced by your divine presence this afternoon." exclaimed Silky in a loud, heavily accented voice.

"Nice to see you too Dave." said Izzy warily.

"Silky leave the poor girl alone," said Jack, "She's probably still nursing this morning's hangover, the Lightweight!"

"Thank you, for the first part at least."

"So how was orientation Baby Sis?" asked Rizzo.

"Long and boring, but on the upside I did meet an adorable Minnesota boy! You guys sure do know how to make 'em here in the Midwest." she said with a laugh.

"I'll pretend that you didn't just tear my heart out, throw it on the ground and do a little dance, you stinkin' traitor." said Jimmy with mock ire.

'Ah get over it, ya can't blame the girl for being honest." said Mac, "Now, just who is this guy and how 'adorable' is he?"

"Why do you want to know" responded Izzy.

"I just thought I should know my competition."

Izzy raised an eyebrow, smirked and started walking towards the exit, calling back "Who said that you're even in the ring?"

With assorted laughs and sarcastic declarations of pity the boys followed Izzy out of the arena, leaving Mac, Rizzo, and Jack standing in the hall, the latter two glaring at the first.

Mac turned to his friends with a smile that quickly faded as he saw their expressions.

"So… you like my little sister, huh MacClanahan?"

"Guys, come on. No disrespect, but Izzy's a grown woman, she can take care of herself, and besides at least you know me, if you stop me she could end up with that random guy that she was talking about."

"Or… we could protect her from all of you scumbags." said Jack.

"Jack he's right."

"He is?" asked Jack and Robbie simultaneously.

"Yeah, I guess if she's gonna date somebody, I'd rather have it be somebody I can trust. But hey, thanks for the help. I'm glad to know that if I ever need a couple of extra eyes or fists, you'll be there to back me up." said Rizzo as he followed the rest of the team out of the doors.

Robbie smirked to himself before leaving in the same direction. Stunned, Jack stood in the hallway for a moment, returning to earth as the doors opened and the bright sunshine poured in. There was Isabella, surrounded in a hazy glow of light.

"Jack," she said timidly "You OK Buddy?"

"He doesn't care." Jack said dumbfounded.

"What are you **talking** about?"

Jack looked up at her. She returned his stare with worry etched across her face.

"Um, nothing Iz. It's not important." he said with a forced smile.

Izzy stretched out her hand towards Jack.

"C'mon Big Guy. I'm starving and I just know that you're dying to buy me a burger."

_Author's Note: So there it is. It's not much, I know but it's something. Hopefully seven months won't pass before the next update!_

_Thanks again for your patience._


End file.
